Art

Exhibitors showcase handicrafts representing their countries at 8th China-South Asia Expo 2024/8/2 source: Print

Exhibitors from South Asian countries are presenting handicrafts that embody the ethnic groups and cultures of their countries to a global audience at the ongoing eighth China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The expo opened on Tuesday, attracting over 2,000 exhibitors, with nearly half of them representing companies from South and Southeast Asia.

The six-day event has 15 exhibition pavilions, featuring two from South Asia, one for manufacturing, one dedicated to the coffee industry, and the themes covering architecture technology, manufacturing, green energy, and modern agriculture.

Roshan Pokharel is the CEO of Aja Dynasty, a company specializing in handicrafts that represent Nepal's diverse ethnic groups. Their goal at the expo is to exhibit the beauty and cultural richness of Nepali handicrafts and traditions globally. Particularly noteworthy are the notebooks on display, crafted using paper sourced from the Sherpa community in the Himalayas.

"Nepal is a very diverse country, more than 120 ethnicities with their own language, culture, tradition live there, yeah, though it is very small country, but that is. So, it comes from Tharu ethnicity and it is tattoo (for) their lady, women, so they have tattoo on the whole body. And so, we want to make them popular with their tradition with this product," Pokharel said.

Home furnishings crafted from Pakistani wood are also featured at the expo.

"I go (to) many countries, but in China, Chinese people like too much handicrafts. This is a horse, all handmade, and inside, you can put dry fruits, you can put jewelries, anything you can put inside," said Mohammed Sajid, a Pakistani businessman.

The expo was first held in Kunming in 2013, the same year China put forward the Belt and Road Initiative. Since its inception, the expo has served more than 18,000 domestic and foreign companies, promoted trade of more than 100 billion U.S. dollars, and facilitated the signing of over 3,000 projects.

Jointly organized by the Ministry of Commerce and the Yunnan provincial government, the expo is one of the year's most important events for economic and trade exchanges between China and South Asian countries.

Official data shows that trade volume between China and South Asian countries reached nearly 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, twice the amount recorded in 2013.


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